The TACK.

Turning the front of the board through the wind, passing the sail over the back of the board.

When you first start windsurfing you turn around by holding the mast or uphaul, the sail is continuously moving but in fact it is the board that is turning. You and the sail stay in the same relation to the wind as in a,b and c. The pressure is always on side X.

The key is that the board and the sail are always moving.

1.) Move your back hand to the harness lines (centre of effort of the sail) or just in front.

As you start to bring the rig back, place the front hand on the mast, 2.) Once you start to go into the yellow sector the board is slowing down.

As you bring the rig right back, your weight is on your back foot so you can place your front foot in front of the mast, 3.) right next to the mast foot.

You go around the mast anywhere in the red sector, 4.)

5.) you do not need your back hand on the boom. The rig must continue to move forwards.

As you get to the edge of the yellow sector sheet in and turn to the direction you wish to sail in 6.).

Sequence 1.) is showing the body and rig movement mentioned above, in the first graphic.

You can see in 2.) the body stays over the centre of the board.

3.) the rig is always moving across the back of the board.

4.) This is the hardest part of the tack, changing sides. The rig must keep moving. Your front foot is changing to exactly the same position. (It is just the other foot.)

5.) This sequence is a little different as I am going from mast to boom in the hand change. Personally I go from mast to mast but it is really not so important. If you use the boom you will tend to stand up, so it is important to get low again after the change.

When sailing in very light wind you must keep the board in balance all the time.

Now for the sinker tack and you can even get yourself back if the wind goes off shore.

Again balance, trim and timing is all important.

Turn the board up towards the wind and just before it is head to wind, start to step around the mast.

This is the tricky part as the board will go right underwater but Keep everything in balance. Remember the front going down is not a problem.

Watch out for the tail going down as you level up, This can cause problems. Keep the rig forwards, be low and extend the rig away from you.

When doing a planning tack you do not have to move the sail so far back as you are carving the board with your back foot. You must go around the mast foot onto the new side before the board slows down to much. This means you are steering the board back to sail for the first part of the red sector in graphic 1.

When there are waves or chop, you must change sides going up the wave/chop. The timing is to be on the other side at the top of the chop.